Giving Subject Specialists the Tools They Need to Succeed: The Collection Development Training Manual at the University of Maryland

The University of Maryland Libraries (UMD) employs over 40 librarians with collection development responsibilities. These subject specialists represent a range of varying experience levels with collection development—from new librarians to seasoned veterans. Although many subject specialists are required to use the same tools for their collection development activities, materials to support these activities were not always easy to find, nor was there one place available to direct new subject specialists who needed resources to assist them with their responsibilities. This paper describes the process undertaken to develop of a toolkit for materials for subject specialists at the UMD Libraries, including the key issues identified by subject specialists and members of the Libraries’s Acquisitions unit, the framework developed for the toolkit, and the implementation process for the toolkit.